Current Research

Monday, August 3, 2009

New Branch of Archaeology: Paleoanthropology Meets Primatology

A chimpanzee mother using rocks (hammer and anvil) to break open nuts, an example of tool use in primates.Photo from Duke University.

A new branch of archaeology is being introduced by international scientists. Led by University of Calgary archaeologist Julio Mercader and 17 other co-authors of the paper "Primate archaeology", advocate a new "Paleoanthropology meets Primatology" inter-disciplinary field that seek to examine primate tool use in a long term, evolutionary context.